Last year on 9-11, 343 firemen and 23 policemen were killed. As these figures show, it is obvious which faction of uniformed public servants suffered the worst losses. Painful as it may be, the following questions must be asked:
* Why was there such a huge discrepancy in fatality rates between these two groups of equally-lauded individuals?
* Why have mainstream media outlets fostered equal public adulation for both police and firemen, when the firemen suffered many times more losses?
* Why is every police department across the nation permitted, (if not encouraged), to bask in the reflected glory of the NYPD (undeserved as it may be)?
* Are we supposed to believe that the lives of policemen are worth more than the lives of the other decedents?
Don’t forget, before 9-11 unjustifiably whitewashed their image, the NYPD had a far more sinister, far more realistic, and far more deserved reputation. Are we supposed to forget this fact, (and ignore reality), simply because twenty-three police officers happened to die on the same day that 15 times as many firemen died, and 130 times as many civilians died?

SHELTON, WASHINGTON July 18, 2002 (Reprinted from THE SHELTON JOURNAL)-- A defense attorney who repeatedly asked local deputies about a "blue wall of silence" won a not-guilty verdict for a Shelton man accused of possessing a bag of marijuana in his buttocks while taking a shower at the Mason County Jail. Richard Kevin Leffler, 37, of 670 S.E. Cook Plant Farm Road, was also found not guilty of resisting arrest and felony violation of a no-contact order after a five-day trial that ended last Friday in Mason County Superior Court. Testifying on his own behalf, Leffler said he had made a number of complaints against deputies of the Mason County Sheriff’s Office before his arrest February 8.

Download Posters:
Here are some Copwatch.com handbills for you to print and distribute. (Requires
regular 8.5” x 11” paper). Simply print from the screen to your printer using the free Adobe PDF reader. You can pass them out on streetcorners, put them under the wiperblades of parked cars, mail one to your local police chief, post them at school, etc.

IMPORTANT: Here’s a recipe for homemade
cornstarch paste, which is very effective for affixing paper signs to
metal poles.
Aerosol adhesive spray is even easier and more effective. Using adhesive
to attach paper signs to metal poles is far more efficient than attaching paper
signs to wooden poles, since it takes a much greater effort to remove them.

Focus on Seattle and Washington State:

1)Washington State cops have succeeded in siphoning off $12 billion in public funds to line their own pockets: That the cops in Washington State are avaricious, manipulative, and untrustworthy has become abundantly clear. Their latest caper almost defies belief: they’ve conned the gullible public into handing over $1.37 BILLION in taxpayer funds over 4 years ($12 billion over 25 years). This money doesn’t go to police departments or any other government entity, but into their own pockets. This is the moral equivalent of white-collar crime, and callously takes advantage of the citizens’ ignorance and naïve goodwill.

2) KEYSTONE KOPS IN SEATTLE: A police impersonator steals a squadcar and runs amok, threatening civilians all over town. Two other squadcars engage in a pursuit. Two of the real cops mistake the other real cop for the impersonator and ram his car. All three real cops exchange gunfire. However, NONE of these poorly trained cops manage to hit their intended targets, and no one is injured. (If only the frequent civilian victims of police gunfire could be so lucky).

3)Recording the cops is LEGAL throughout the entire state of Washington (both overtly and covertly): We’ve been hearing numerous horror stories describing the illegal tactics utilized by Seattle (and Puyallup) cops when they realize they are being video and/or audio taped. Apparently, many officers (including, among others, Off Alan P. Carr, Sgt. Edward A. Striedinger, Det. Donna J. O’Neal, Off Ann Martin, Off Deborah D. Brooks, and Ofr. Michael Korner), have falsely claimed that it is illegal to audiotape them without their permission, and have threatened to arrest and jail anyone who persists in doing so. (Further information regarding these officers will be forthcoming soon. All parties are innocent until proven guilty). Despite the dismal reputation of the SPD, it still defies belief that these cops could be SO stupid and SO ill-trained as to actually believe what they say-- it seems far more likely that they are deliberately misrepresenting the law in an effort to intimidate the citizenry. To set the record straight, it is legal to record the cops in Washington State.

*(To protect ourselves from frivolous lawsuits, our lawyers insist that we inform readers that nothing on this site may be relied upon as legal advice).

4)SEATTLE HANDBILLS: The Seattle City Council recently adopted a new poster ordinance. The ordinance provides that: “Handbills, signs and posters may be affixed to City-owned utility poles, lamp poles and traffic control devices under the control of the Seattle Department of Transportation, except for freestanding stop
signs and yield signs, and their posts, in accordance the rules promulgated by the Director of the Seattle Department of Transportation…”

We LOVE having Copwatch.com handbills placed where the public (and the police) can see them. If you decide to post some of these handbills, we cannot stop you, and the City cannot hold us responsible for removing them. Any party who posts these handbills is doing so under their own volition, presumably for the Constitutionally-protected purpose of expressing their agreement with our political views, (though it is possible that they could be doing so in an effort to make it appear as though the organization is breaking a local law). Copwatch.com is not asking or directing any individual(s) to post any handbills, but we cannot prevent persons who are not under our direction or control from doing so. (The foregoing is explicitly stated because the new SDOT rules will probably require that the party whose name appears on the posters remove them within a given time period). For your convenience, we’ve created a few handbills tailored specifically for Seattle and Washington State. You can download these handbills using Adobe PDF (simply print from your screen onto regular-size paper). What you do with them is entirely up to you.

CASH REWARD: An anonymous donor has offered a $50.00 postal money order
for videotape of a Seattle police officer removing a Copwatch.com
handbill from a telephone pole, light pole, or traffic control pole.

5)SPD takes revenge on citizen who won settlement in civil rights case. A man who settled an $11 million false arrest/police brutality case against the SPD is pepper-sprayed, beaten, arrested, and jailed…FOR JAYWALKING! Is this the punishment meted out by the SPD when someone dares to make a cop uncomfortable by seeking justice? Are Officers James Lee and James Shearer the SPD’s designated hit-men?

According to the Seattle Times,” When someone calls 911 to report a possible drowning, the Fire Department typically arrives within five minutes, according to five years of response-time data compiled by the Fire Department. But without scuba gear, firefighters can't try to dive underwater and locate someone who could possibly be revived.

Instead, they must wait for police divers, who often take 30 minutes to arrive, although exact figures had not been released by the department as of yesterday.

Hoping to capitalize on its rapid-response time, the Fire Department trained its own dive team last year. But the unit was scrapped after just one week of operation when the Police Guild filed a grievance with the state Public Employment Relations Board.

8) Seattle police reveal their innate cowardice and complete lack of humanity- refuse to intervene as a young man is beaten to death by vicious racists. City pays victim’s family $1.75 million rather than let a jury hear the facts regarding cops’ reprehensible negligence.

“Police … stood along the perimeter of the crowd and watched as the wounded pleaded for help. Police commanders ordered officers to stand by, fearing any move would only incite the crowd further and endanger the officers.”

9)Seattle cops under criminal investigation for widespread cheating on promotional exam. City cancels public meeting regarding the problem, and tries to cover up the scandal. Unsurprisingly, the local police union wants the results to stand regardless of cheating. Sgt. Kevin Haistings, vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild (the Police Union), says "We would like to see the test preserved as it is because of the time it takes officers to prepare".

Is there a conflict of interest here? Kevin Haistings is a Sergeant, and the test in question was administered to officers hoping to attain the rank of Sergeant. Perhaps “Sgt.” Haistings should be required to re-take the test himself?

CENSORSHIP LAW ENACTED AT BEHEST OF POLICE OFFICERS;BANNED WEBSITE MIRRORED IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS

SEATTLE, June 2002 (AN EDITORIAL)-- A website which contains vast quantities of allegedly “personal” information regarding police officers in Washington State has been censored by the Washington State Legislature. Even though a Washington State appeals court specifically held that William Sheehan and Aaron Rosenstein, the operators of JUSTICEFILES.ORG, possess the Constitutionally-guaranteed right to web-post public information pertaining to the police, the cops and their anti-American allies in the Washington State legislature, (none of whom harbor any allegiance whatsoever to the Constitution), have rammed through a custom-tailored law which prevents Sheehan and Rosenstein from exercising their rights under the 1st Amendment.

Fortunately, Washington State does not exercise dominion over the entire world. The arbitrary edicts and bizarre prohibitions enacted by the power-addled Caligulas in Olympia have absolutely no impact on those fortunate parties who reside in areas of the world where Liberty and Freedom are still loved with ardor and defended with vigor.

At least two entities have displayed an admirable willingness to thumb their noses at the contemptible politicians in Washington. These entities have taken it upon themselves to mirror the entire contents of the pre-ban Justicefiles.org. Indeed, it appears that they will actually be augmenting the data initially amassed by Justicefiles.org (if you have supplemental information which has been verified for accuracy, contact the webmasters of the mirrors).

Please excuse the uncouth language which follows, but there’s no other phrase which accurately summarizes the sentiment which seems to be evinced by these modern-day incarnations of Voltaire and Thomas Paine.

In taking this stand defending the 1st Amendment, it's as if they are issuing a sincere and heartfelt “Fuck You” to every arrogant cop and fascist politician in Washington State.

Here’s the information that the cops in Washington are desperate to prevent you from seeing. Check it out, if only to piss them off.

URGENT! Voice your opposition to the pending National ID. Here is a link to an ACLU letter generator that will automatically send a fax to your elected representatives. If you fail to act, the day will soon come when the cops will demand that you show “Your Papers, Comrade!” Let us not permit that day to occur within our lifetimes. We must fight these fascistic bastards every step of the way! NEW FEATURE: Visit the Reader-Submitted Artwork section of the Copwatch.com website. Among other items, this section features original photographs, drawings, logos, ad parodys, cartoons, and brief editorial commentary.PAGE 7PAGE 6PAGE 5PAGE 4PAGE 3PAGE 2PAGE 1

NEWS BRIEFS:* Regular Copwatch.com discussion-board contributor Duncan Philp strikes a blow for freedom and faces unjust persecution at the hands of a local judge who pushes a virulent anti-Constitutional agenda. (While we support Mr. Philp’s battle 100%, we take no stand on how best to challenge Denver’s unconstitutional restrictions on handgun possession. Whether the problem is eventually solved by an Initiative, a Referendum, a court challenge, or “Assassination Politics” is something over which we have no control. We believe that Denver’s unconstitutional restriction should be attacked on every front possible. Obviously, we cannot and do not advocate any acts of lawlessness).

* Federal Government invents and exercises the tyrannical power to declare US citizens “enemy combatants” and deprive them of all their Constitutional rights. A la Nixon, the ruling elite has probably already drawn up a wide-ranging “Enemies List” of annoying people, and are just waiting for the right moment to declare them “Enemy Combatants” as well. Are we next, you bastards? If the Feds are truly concerned about subversive foreign elements in America, DON’T LET SUCH FOLKS BECOME CITIZENS IN THE FIRST PLACE. Once they become citizens, they have the same rights as all the rest of us, and the government cannot take those rights away. Otherwise, those “rights” are not rights at all, but mere favors granted or denied at the whim of government. The terrible and unavoidable consequences of America’s insane “open door” immigration policies are coming home to roost.

* An 11-year veteran of the Colorado State Patrol is convicted on multiple counts of sexually assaulting an 8 year old girl. His sentence? Probation and work release… no jailtime at all! And is the prosecutor happy with this sentence? You bet! According the the DA’s spokesman, the sentence is “"very appropriate. It is very just." Only an idiot could claim that there isn’t a double standard built into our present “justice system”.

* Pulitzer-prizewinning news photographer arrested and jailed for merely carrying a placard in the general vicinity of V.P. Cheney’s speech.

"The main cop informed me that if I did not go more than a block away to the area he apparently had just arbitrarily decided was to be used by protesters, that I would be arrested. I complied and started to walk away. When I turned to ask if it was OK to go to the parking lot where hundreds of people were, either leaving work or arriving to attend the event, he instructed his uniformed men to arrest me."* Jury awards $3.5 million to family of man killed by lady cops: jurors find that female officer acted “willfully, recklessly, and wantonly,” and violated established departmental procedures. All three of the cops involved in this man’s death are women. All three of them were exonerated by their police department. All three are still on the force.Is political correctness responsible for this man’s death? Were these “ladies” unreasonably intimidated by the prospect of physically confronting a man, and therefore overeager to utilize deadly force? Editor’s Note: This story seems to have virtually disappeared from the net. If anyone can find a more complete version, please post it, along with a link, in our News Center.

* Another outrage is perpetrated by the Feds in collaboration with local law enforcement: Two men are gunned down in cold blood. This tragedy is distinguishable from Waco only by the conspicuous lack of media coverage and the dearth of federally-murdered children. Read this article, and you will be shocked, horrified, and enraged. Tell us if you agree with the contention that Scott Teter, Prosecuting Attorney for Cass County, Michigan, is guilty of a crime that deserves the death penalty. Conveniently, he himself conducted the official investigation of the killings, and predictably concluded they were “justifiable homicides”. He is evil personified, and represents all that is wrong with the perverted remnants of our once-respectable justice system.

* Denver motorists up in arms over highway robbery. Judge throws out tickets, says city broke the law by allowing a private contractor to prepare and send the summons and complaint. Will outraged citizens resort to the use of paint-balls, jamming techniques, EMP devices, HERF guns, or roofing nails tossed on the parking areas?

After the police launched their initial attack, the demonstrators and their supporters, along with Life has Meaning, retreated to the intersection of Second Ave. and Stewart St. A SWAT team was dispatched to that location in a mil-spec Armored Personnel Carrier, (euphemistically called a "Peacekeeper" by the police-- a description which was uncritically parroted by local television stations). [Click here for a picture of the SPD armored personnel carrier racing toward Second and Stewart.]

According to several witnesses, Life has Meaning was shot by a police officer who knelt in a marksman position, took careful aim, and shot her in the eye as she attempted to warn her friend, Swaneagle, that the police were about to open fire. Swaneagle too was hit: shot with rubber bullets as she pleaded with officers to lay down their arms. (Swaneagle’s suit against the Seattle Police Department was settled for $2500.00). At the time these shots were fired, the crowd at Second and Stewart had already dispersed.

DID SEATTLE POLICE OFFICERS MISUSE THEIR WEAPONS DELIBERATELY OR NEGLIGENTLY?

As part of their investigation, attorneys for Life has Meaning subpoenaed the City’s premier expert on the topic of less lethal weapons. The City determined that Sgt. James Dermody, a longstanding member of Seattle’s SWAT team, possessed more knowledge about less lethal weapons than any other City employee.

Under questioning by the plaintiff’s attorneys, Sgt. Dermody was presented with a list of the all the projectiles used by the police during the WTO demonstrations. When asked to describe what each projectile was designed to do, and how each should be properly fired, Sgt. Dermody refused to answer, saying that he could not provide accurate information without first studying the training manuals.

As a SWAT team member, Sgt. Dermody is answerable to emergency calls twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. At any moment, he might be called upon to use less lethal weapons in the course of his employment as a SWAT team member. And yet Sgt. Dermody, who the City acknowledges is its foremost expert on less lethal weapons, was unable to recall the intended function and proper use of the very weapons he might, at any moment, be required to use. If Sgt. Dermody, the preeminent expert, does not know how to properly use these weapons, how much more ignorant are the regular officers who used these weapons so indiscriminately and negligently during the WTO debacle?

One can imagine a seemingly inevitable scenario in which Sgt. Dermody is called to respond to a situation which could easily be resolved by the proper use of an appropriate less-lethal device, but Sgt. Dermody is unable to recall which device should be selected, much less how the device should be used, so he simply shoots the suspect in the head with his Glock.

Although Sgt. Dermody appeared blissfully unaware of such trifling details as the proper use of the less-lethal weapons in which the City considered him to be expertly qualified, the plaintiff’s attorneys managed to unearth the relevant information. According to the manufacturer’s official training manuals, approximately one-third of the fifteen projectiles used by the City could only be safely used if they were skipped off the pavement before striking the target. Another third could only be safely used if they were aimed below the knees. With respect to all the projectiles, shots to the head could only be used if lethal force was justified.

Life has Meaning was shot directly in the head. The wound indicates she was hit by a projectile that should have been, (but was not), skipped off the pavement.

SEATTLE, Jan. 2002 (CNS)-- Evidence recently uncovered in two class-action lawsuits concerning police conduct during the 1999 Seattle WTO summit reveals damning new information regarding the widespread police misuse of so-called "less lethal" weapons. The shocking new evidence, which consists in part of the SPD's own training videos, establishes the following facts:

The countless chemical-weapon grenades which the police indiscriminately launched at the congregants were superheated to 2400 degrees. Even though the police knew that these canisters had burned off the fingers of individuals who touched them, no warnings were issued to the public (of course, the line officers received repeated warnings). (See link to SPD training video below).

The chemical weapons used by the SPD contained 60% methyl chloride. Methyl Chloride is a virulent carcinogen used in paint stripper. It is known to cause birth defects in laboratory animals, and is suspected of causing chronic harm to people with asthma, liver problems, or heart problems.

Police officers were informed that the microscopic structure of the chemical gases resembled miniature fishhooks. The police officers were warned that any clothing which came in contact with these gases had to be washed several times before being rendered safe to wear again. They were further warned that these substances would even contaminate the washing machines themselves, and that the machines had to be run through several complete cycles, empty, before the toxic substances would be diluted to an acceptable level. (See SPD training video linked below). The general public received no such warnings. A plaintiff in one of these class-action lawsuits spent over $5000 treating skin conditions resulting from wearing contaminated and cross-contaminated clothing. At the present time, it is uncertain how many innocent citizens suffer from chronic health problems as a result of continuous exposure to residual chemical agents which have contaminated their clothing, bedding, towels, and linens.

The first of these class-action lawsuits was filed last summer by 25 people who were allegedly injured by less-lethal weapons at the conclusion of the "Steelworkers Rally", which took place during the second day of the demonstrations. Click here for coverage of the Steelworkers Demonstration

The second lawsuit, filed by seven people on Nov. 30, 2001, (the second anniversary of the WTO conference), challenges the use of chemical and other less-lethal weapons at all other locations during the demonstrations. That suit seeks damages for tens of thousands of people who were present in downtown Seattle during the demonstrations.

This site is dedicated with respect and gratitude to the honest, courteous, and brave men and women of law enforcement, wheresoever they may be found.

It is also dedicated to the untold thousands of innocent, law-abiding American citizens who have been mistreated, harassed, brutalized or killed by law enforcement officials who are corrupt, incompetent, stupid, petty, self-aggrandizing, abusive, vindictive, brutal, undisciplined, vicious, or any combination thereof.

Such government-sanctioned thugs harm not only the citizens whom they victimize, but also, (less directly), their fellow law enforcement officers, whose reputation and image is tarnished, if not completely ruined, by the misdeeds of their repugnant colleagues. In abusing their authority, bad cops dramatically exacerbate an "us vs. them" mentality, which endangers police and citizens alike.

This resource will focus primarily, (though by no means exclusively), on police officers, since they are the most visible, oft-encountered, and lethal representatives of law enforcement.

In an effort to draw a line in the sand between honorable, admirable police officers and their corrupt, incompetent brethren, we will publicize, analyze, and criticize the misdeeds of the latter, and contrast their actions with the heroic deeds of the former. We will demonstrate that good police officers share more characteristics in common with good citizens than they do with bad cops. Conversely, we will show that bad cops, (colloquially known in some circles as "pigs"), have far more in common with felons, high-school dropouts, and sociopaths than they do with either good cops or good citizens. Good cops should thus feel a greater sense of duty and loyalty towards good citizens than towards bad cops.

By undermining the uneasy truce between these two distinct types of cops, we accomplish two objectives. First, we help to counter the well-founded public perception that all cops are unprincipled, malevolent, and gratuitously violent. Second, we begin to weaken the foundations of the so-called called "blue wall of silence", which academics describe as a code of silence akin to the Mafia code of "omerta". Under this unwritten code, police officers are pressured, (often with threats of violence), to turn a blind eye to the misconduct of their criminalistic co-workers.

Please help expose and punish bad cops! Contribute your suggestions, advice, or comments to copwatch@lokmail.com (PLAIN TEXT ONLY: NO HTML, and NO ATTACHMENTS- noncompliant submissions are automatically deleted without being viewed).

Relevant articles regarding police misconduct (articles must be accompanied by links, or they will be rejected) should be posted HERE.

JOIN THE FIGHT AGAINST BAD COPS!

TODAY'S FEATURED LINK:COUNTERPUNCH.ORG
The website of Alexander Cockburn and company. Mr. Cockburn has long been one of the preeminent journalists in America- one of the very few who tells the facts and names the names, with historically-informed insight and poetic erudition to boot. NEW: Mr. Cockburn examines the far-reaching impact of our military victory in Afghanistan. It's a very funny article, in a disturbingly ironic sense. Thankfully, we've all been taught to "Celebrate Diversity", and thus are able to appreciate any expression of ethnic or indigenous culture.
"[Afghani] Judge Zarif makes it clear that the ultimate penalty will remain in force for adulterers, both male and female. They would still be stoned to death, Zarif told the French news agency [AFP], "but we will use only small stones."

SPOTLIGHT ON PERSONAL SELF-DEFENSE:Jeff Cooper enjoys a sterling reputation among firearms self-defense experts, and with good reason. Not only is he an excellent teacher, a tactician par excellence, and a deadly defender of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, but he is also a veritable font of pragmatic wisdom. In these days when we must actively protect ourselves against terrorists, criminals, cops, and murderous government thugs, (categories not mutually exclusive), it is a very good idea to become intimately reacquainted with the one tool which is absolutely indispensable to the preservation of your liberty, and maybe your life. Here’s an interesting place to start.

LOGBOOK OF UNDERHANDED POLICE TACTICS: #64 of 13,249
Police frequently attempt to dismiss their critics by branding them with various pejorative labels, such as “communist”, “hippie”, or “anarchist”. Unsurprisingly, this tactic works like a charm with other cops and their myopic apologists, but carries no weight at all with rational observers. Merely because someone is (or may be) a communist, hippie, or anarchist, it doesn’t necessarily follow that their observations and opinions regarding cops are incorrect. Attempting to force every critic into a pejorative category is at best an exercise in futility, and at worst an exercise in deceiving the media, misrepresenting the truth, or outright prevarication. Truth be told, communists, hippies, and anarchists represent only a tiny fraction of the countless people who are deeply disturbed by the way cops typically behave. The vast majority of cop-critics are just regular folks. The “uniforms” hate to admit it, but contempt and disrespect for cops permeates society from top to bottom (with good reason). For the police to respond to this well-established fact by mindlessly repeating some variation of their standard refrain -- “If you don’t like it here, move to China, you communist”-- is a laughably inane rebuttal to legitimate criticisms leveled by salt-of-the-earth Americans.

By way of illustration, here is a link to a very interesting article published by a group of conservative intellectual iconoclasts, who, at first blush, might be expected to support the cops unequivocally. These guys are not commies, anarchists, or hippies. It will be interesting to see what pathetic methodology the police employ in an effort to dismiss criticism from this quarter.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The more research we do, the more obvious it becomes that cops are almost universally reviled. This finding holds true across every socio-economic, political, and educational spectrum. It is increasingly clear that the only viable means of rehabilitating the police in the eyes of the public is to adopt the reforms described here. Ironically, implementation of these reforms will do as much to protect the police as the public. For their own sake, recalcitrant officers would be well advised to actively support this rapidly growing grassroots movement.

FLYING THE “FRIENDLY SKIES”? PLEASE RETURN YOUR POSTURE TO THE FULLY SUBMISSIVE POSITION:There’s nothing more to fear- at least not from 86-year-old cowboys. It’s a good thing we’ve federalized our airport security personnel, because no one gets the job done like a Government employee. Without the characteristic professionalism of these airport “psuedo-cops,” our lives would be at risk every time we boarded a plane. But with the characteristic professionalism of these overpaid, unintelligent bullies, our lives are at risk not only every time we board a plane, but every time we enter an airport.

PBS PROVES IT ISN'T ENTIRELY WORTHLESS:
When not preoccupied with pandering to the interests of sexual minorities or overly-radical feminists, PBS sometimes manages to turn out a decent program. One show which regularly features excellent in-depth investigations is "FRONTLINE". A relatively recent episode presented a comprehensive retrospective of the Rampart scandal in Los Angeles. Their web site contains the transcript of the show, including interviews with the major players. Regular readers of COPWATCH.COM will not be surprised by the far-reaching extent of the putrid rot infecting the LAPD.

FROM POLICY AND HABIT, COPS EVADE INQUIRIES, ATTACK INVESTIGATORS:
You can't count on the cops for much, but in one arena, they are as dependable as sunshine in June. Given the slightest opportunity, they will conceal the facts, refuse to disclose public information, and cover up for their buddies. It's an autonomic, reflexive response that verges on instinct. Regardless of how often they are disciplined or publicly excoriated, they persist in evading the law. We've seen it time and time again. Here's yet another example of their arrogant, "we’re above the law" mentality.Police agencies around Arizona refused nearly half the time to hand over public records dealing with crimes in a test of how local government agencies follow the state's Public Records Law.

In St. Johns, an officer filed a "suspicious person" report on an Associated Press reporter and ran his name through a national crime-information computer system looking for outstanding warrants. The report, which noted that the auditor went to three other local government agencies, was forwarded to the police chief for review.

In Safford, an Arizona Daily Star reporter was asked into an interview room by Police Chief Dennis Thompson, who wanted him to confide his reason for wanting the records.

In Bullhead City, a police department employee initially told a reporter from the Mohave Valley Daily News that she'd have to pay as much as $1,000 to receive a list of incidents. Later, after speaking with Police Chief Rodney Head, the auditor received the documents at a cost of $10.

POLICE-STATE APPARATUS INVADES EVERY ASPECT OF OUR LIVES:
One of the fundamental problems with our current legal system is that the government has the ability to pick and choose which laws it wants to enforce, and in what context. While the government rarely hesitates to use any given law as a sword against the citizenry, it frequently denies the citizenry the ability to use the law as a shield against the government’s attack. An interesting case in point is the Anti-peonage Act. Here’s a link to an informative site on this little-known subject.

JOE BOB BRIGGS ON THE PROPOSED NATIONAL ID:
You might remember Mr. Briggs as the comedic author of the infamous “Drive-In Movie Review” columns (which popularized such terms as “bimbo-fu”, “the sign of the two-backed beast”, and “three and a half breasts”). He’s successfully branched out, becoming a Twain-like cultural critic, while retaining his reputation for honesty, impartiality, and accuracy (unlike his erstwhile competitor Michael “Mike” Medved, whose judgment can’t be trusted, given his ridiculous “two thumbs up” reviews of Israel and illegal immigration). Check it out.What if you spent 1997 hanging out in Rudy's Adult Video? It was just sort of a PHASE you were going through, and yes, you did charge $3,500 on Rudy's Adult Video three-for-the-price-of-two video specials. But you had no idea that when you applied for a job 10 years later at one of those super-high-security Enron-type companies, they would do a "deep background check" tied to your National Eye-Dee Card. "Take a seat, Mr. Wilson. We have a few questions about the 'Nurse Nasty' video series starring Jasmine St. Clair. Is it true that you watched all 34 volumes?"

There aren't many people left alive from the Depression years, when the Congress first passed the Social Security Act, but part of the big debate over it was whether it was constitutional to REQUIRE people to have an official number. I can remember old coots in Texas who were ready to go to prison rather than to submit to being numbered by the government. There were preachers who said it was Satan's work, a sign of the end times, when everyone would have the mark of the beast.

And look what happened. The old coots were right! After Congress repeatedly said that the Social Security number would ONLY be used to keep track of pension benefits, it was used by every government agency -- including law enforcement -- and every private agency -- including credit card databases that can track you back to the beginning of time -- to make sure you weren't pulling a fast one.

Later the same thing happened with drivers licenses. The purpose of a drivers license is ... class? ... to DRIVE A CAR. Nothing else. I don't imagine there are people still around who, when getting their license, say, "Now you're not gonna use this information for any other purpose, are you?" Because they already know the answer.

Our condolences, sympathy, and prayers are with the innocent victims of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. As the solemn executors of the victims’ political inheritance, it is incumbent upon us to ensure that the government is prevented from using their needless deaths as an excuse to impose yet another set of draconian restrictions on the civil rights of natural-born American citizens (whose parents were here legally).

An unimpeded, wide-ranging investigation must be immediately undertaken to identify every nation which possessed advance knowledge of the 9/11 attack. Every nation that knew of the attack beforehand, and failed to warn us, must be treated as our deadly enemy- and any domestic parties that engaged in, or subsequently attempted to conceal, such reprehensible behavior must face the death penalty. Special interest groups, foreign lobbyists, and large corporate conglomerates must not be allowed to derail this vital investigation.

On another front, we must hunt down and punish those in our own government whose negligence allowed those events to occur. Yet again, the FBI and the CIA have proven themselves to be embarrassingly incompetent. Instead of devoting their time and resources to protecting American citizens from a large-scale, well-coordinated attack, the FBI was summarily executing two innocent American citizens. Equally culpable, CIA was busy meddling in the internal affairs of Colombia, and was also preoccupied with shooting down wholly innocent private planes in Peru. Finally, the preponderance of blame lies with our elected representatives, for they are the ones who are ultimately responsible for the policies pursued by our federal agencies. Most of the individuals currently serving in Congress should be voted out of office, (with rare exceptions).

DOMESTIC FASCISTS AND THEIR INFORMAL ALLIES, THE TERRORISTS, ARE WINNING THE WAR AGAINST AMERICA-- Power-hungry police-state proponents have used the public's understandable outrage at the events of 9/11 as cover to launch a massive offensive in their continuing efforts to eviscerate the Constitution. In what amounts to a de facto coup, these proto-fascists have pushed a bill through Congress which decimates some of the most essential civil rights guaranteed to us under the Constitution. The sweeping new police powers created by this act are not aimed at suspected terrorists, but at all Americans.
Counting on our ignorance and our governmentally-inculcated predisposition to ignore statistically verified reality, these quislings have dismantled our precious, hard-won birthright, the Constitution, in pursuit of an objective which will ultimately destroy us. We are letting them sow the seeds of an America which will bear very little allegiance to the philosophical ideals the country was founded upon- the very ideals which have given us unprecedented freedom and prosperity.

[In an effort to redress the injustice suffered by the innocent author of the fourth-to-last article cited above, we would be interested in publishing the names and photographs of any California National Guardsmen working at LAX, particularly "a big guy with a buzz-cut, dressed head-to-toe in camouflage army fatigues." Anyone who may be considering taking such photographs should proceed with caution, and undertake your efforts accompanied by multiple witnesses and videocameras.]

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CREDITS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
We would like to formally recognize the vital role played by various individual police officers in the creation of this website. Were it not for their brave, unwavering dedication to corruption, incompetence, and malfeasance, we would have no reason to pursue this crucial endeavor. It is thanks to the continuing misdeeds of such officers (and their see-no-evil cohorts) that the Copwatch.com organization is so rapidly expanding. All of you officers who write to us with strongly-expressed negative sentiments should reserve the major part of those feelings for your very own brethren- it is they, not us, who are to blame for your discomfiture. Get rid of them, and we too shall go away; let them remain, and we will dog your every step. As long as they are on the force, you and they are indistinguishable, and will suffer the same fate- i.e. you will all be viewed as evil in the eyes of the public.

Very special thanks are owed to some stereotypical police officers (they know who they are), in Maryland, Colorado, Illinois, California, Texas, New York, and Washington. These cops will be soon be singled out, thoroughly investigated, publicly identified, and targeted for suitable media attention.

Help copwatch fight police brutality. Bad cops must be reported and prosecuted. Police corruption is a major problem - copwatch fights bad cops. Dirty cops threaten the criminal justice system. Police misconduct is an epidemic. Police abuse innocent citizens all too often. Abusive police attack citizens with no provocation. Police harassment is a frequent occurrence. The blue wall of silence protects bad cops, and police culture must be reformed. Deviant cops must be fired. Police deviance cannot be tolerated. Last year saw a bad police officer arrested for rape, a dirty police officer charged with extortion, police corruption involving drug distribution, a criminal police officer jailed for brutality, a disgraced police chief sentenced for domestic abuse, a veteran police officer convicted of statutory rape, a police rookie convicted of official oppression, police on trial in a variety of jurisdictions, federal oversight of police departments implemented in a number of cities, a convicted sheriff guilty of theft, a moonlighting police deputy sheriff disciplined for misconduct, convicted cops fired for sexual assault, a guilty cop suspended for harassment, a discredited officer charged with perjury, and a law enforcement officer suspended from duty for being on the take. The police officer, suspended without pay, was reassigned to a desk job as a result of the internal investigation. The community was outraged when the police officer was reinstated. Activists were aghast when the officer returned to active duty. Police corruption is common across the country. It is rarely effective to file a complaint against a police officer. Many citizens don’t know how to lodge complaints against police officers. One of the primary objectives of Copwatch is to teach citizens how to get rid of bad cops. Bad cops are a disgrace to the badge- their motto is not “to serve and protect, but “to sleep and collect”. Bad cops are said to have a dirty badge. Hiding behind the dirty badge is something that good cops will not tolerate. At Copwatch, we advocate a zero tolerance policy regarding bad cops. Every corrupt cop is a dishonor to the uniform. Offending cops must, like Sgt. Jackson, be forced to turn in their badges. Subsequent reports revealed a state patrol officer investigated for arson, a highway patrol officer indicted for fraud, a state trooper jailed for assault, top cops ousted for brandishing their weapons, a Police Sgt. fired for bribery, (while another Police Sergeant quit the force), a Police officer pressured to resign (the Police Lieutenant is accused of murder), child-molesting police, and a Police officer crashed his squad car in a high speed pursuit, killing innocent bystanders. The police department engaged in a coverup to hide evidence of misconduct, refusing to release relevant public records and public documents, despite the open records law and the submission of a public disclosure request. Finally, Serpico breaks ranks. Police rape prostitutes. “Officer convicted of child molestation” is a headline you don’t want to see in your community. As the bad cops close ranks, good police put their lives on the line. An overzealous county mounty (or mountie) is an embarrassment to the force. An ex-cop turns in his gun. Learn how to prevent police brutality. Copwatch teaches how to videotape the cops. Copwatch educates the public using a variety of resources: expert witnesses, think-tank research, articles, studies, academic reports, metastudies, congressional investigations, blue-ribbon panels, and government commissions. Using your videocamera, Polaroid, or digital camera, you can capture the police as they break the law. It’s very hard for the cops to deny the facts when you’ve caught them on your videocam. Camcorders are the most effective means of monitoring police misconduct on the streets. The Police Benevolent Fund manufactures support for the police department - a department under fire amid accusations of misconduct. The Police Guild negotiates a new contract for its members. The Police Union demands a raise in overtime pay. Funds are increased with the seizure of drug money. Forfeiture proceedings are instituted, and the police seize the property of alleged drug dealers, including cars, homes, planes, real estate, guns, and drugs. At the same time, police raise funds for charity and participate in public service programs. Community policing resulted in ride-along programs for local citizens, and increased participation in police Explorer programs. But the broken-window, zero-tolerance program is difficult to evaluate. A gun-buyback program was successful, with cops collecting a variety of firearms, including assault rifles, handguns, Saturday night specials, automatic weapons, shotguns, tec-9, glocks, taurus, S&W, .45 caliber, .44 caliber, .357 caliber, 9mm, all military style. The guns were auctioned off or melted down. BATF agents were investigating the sale of handguns. The FBI conducted a background check, so citizens interested in the militia movement attended gun shows, where they were able to purchase handguns from vendors. N-Copa tries to impose police accountability. A concealed weapons permit was issued, and this gun permit allowed the man to use his handgun for concealed carry in a shoulder holster. The National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund is a beautiful tribute to our boys in blue who have made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives in the line of duty. Line of duty deaths have been increasing in recent years, as more officers put their lives on the line. To serve and protect is the police officers’ honorable motto. Duty and honor is another motto favored by the police. The LAPD scandal tarnishes public perception of police officers. Police brutality is a major issue in many areas, not just minority neighborhoods. In many instances, the behavior of the government, including cops, is indistinguishable from the behavior of terrorists. Assassination Politics is an interesting concept initially described by Jim Bell. Neighborhood watch programs are effective in reducing crime statistics and increasing neighborhood safety. The Great Speckled Bird is a loose affiliation of 1960’s era activists, the remnants of a left-wing undergound newspaper, who are involved with the newsgroup alt.thebird.copwatch. Cops shoot suspect, and then the cops shoot suspect again. The suspect is wounded, and then the suspect dies in police custody. This pattern is called custody death syndrome. Positional asphyxiation is often blamed for the death of prisoners, after the prisoners are pepper-sprayed, maced, beaten, handcuffed, and thrown in the back of a police car. Unsurprisingly, many pornstars are arrested and face legal trouble at some point in their careers. It is to be sincerely hoped that the current crop of erotic pornstars, including Kobe Tai, Jenna Jameson, and Brianna Banks, along with Chloe Jones, Sylvia Saint, and Jill Kelly, manage to escape the seemingly inevitable pornstar curse: a brush with the law. This sentiment should also be extended to erotic actresses Tara Patrick and Veronica Zemanova, as well as the hottest hardcore amateur starlets. It will be interesting to see whether this phraseology increases the number of visitors to the famous, or more appropriately infamous, website which is the subject of this report. NCOPA is an anti-police group. Suicide by cop is another term that is becoming popular, as police seek to blame the victim and excuse their unprofessional behavior. These police cover-ups are ineffective, and police brutality is found to be the cause of death. Cops and robbers is a nice game, but when the cops kill or fatally wound a suspected robber, the circumstances are often suspicious. Many cops are drug abusers, some police are drug addicts, many officers are alcoholics. Cops on steroids often exhibit roid rage when police abuse steroids. Amadou Diallou was sodomized by police on steroids. Police brutality and racial profiling are two issues that often arise at major metropolitan police departments. Bill Sheehan created a website revealing the social security numbers, home addresses, and home telephone numbers of Kirkland Police Department (KPD) officers. Civil rights abuses probed. The October 22nd Coalition is an anti-police brutality group working to stop police brutality, repression, and the criminalization of a generation, and seeking Justice for Abner Louima. The Stolen Lives project seeks to list all people killed by law enforcement. Refuse and Resist is a group that works on organizing a National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation. Officer convicted of drunk driving. Man killed in police raid. At the N30 demonstrations, cops without nametags beat nonviolent protestors without provocation. Angela Davis Copwatch is a group of community activists. The direct action network, DAN for short, was created in response. During the Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday celebrations in Seattle, a roving gang of black thugs beat Kris Kime to death as he was attempting to assist an injured women, and the police stood by and did nothing. This murder is on the hands of Mayor Paul Schell, who refuses to prosecute the perpetrators for hate crimes. Some people have argued that a database of bad cops should be developed. Many authoritative academic studies examine the psychological profile of police officers. There are many deviant police officers. Some police departments foster a culture of police deviance. Where is a free punk music concert? Kids like to thrash on their skateboard. Snowboarding, or boarding, is enjoyed by straightedge skinheads. RATM is phat. The swat team, equipped with military gear, broke down the door and swarmed into the apartment with guns drawn. Dynamic entry police raids are dangerous to citizens. Police brutality is a growing problem.